On Friday night, it was announced that Andre Dirrell would be leaving both promoter Gary Shaw and manager/adviser to the stars (and others) Al Haymon to lead his own career with the help of his uncle/trainer, Leon Lawson Jr, and grandfather, Leon Lawson Sr.
The move has led to a lot of talk about what this really means for Dirrell, so the fighter has spoken out on Twitter about the move. There's not a lot here, but it does lend a little insight:
(1) I can confirm that I Want Bute and I'm on merchandise like that now so as soon as the website goes up ;-)
(2) it's all about having faith brutha, those who think they can't do it themselves usually can't! I know I can and I will!!
- This was in response to a fan saying Dirrell had "0 draw."
(3) We all know the Matrix is pushin forth his own destiny! Watch as I pursue & conquer my own dream! Who cares what u think, GOD HAS MY BACK!!
(4) If you feel like you're a great fighter, with great potential & tremendous skill, but needs some1 2 help u then u don't fully believe n you!
(5) Believe in who you say you are and put your faith in Jesus and only him! The rest will take care of itself! Stop handicapping yourselves!!!
(6) Me and Gary shaw NEVER had a contract together! So I didn't leave him, I'm just going my way & he'll do him! But He's great at what he does
On the last point, that's pretty standard operating procedure. As I understand it, nobody managed by Haymon actually has a contract with any promoter. They're basically on loan and allowed to have their fights promoted by Gary Shaw in Dirrell's case, or Lou DiBella in Andre Berto's case, or Golden Boy in the case of Floyd Mayweather Jr or Gary Russell Jr, etc.
In response to Floyd Mayweather Jr offering a $40 million flat fee and no cut of the revenue streams to Manny Pacquiao for a fight, Bob Arum has offered Floyd a similar flat fee of $45 million to make the fight. The pissing contest just "got real," I guess, or at least real in the sense that anything about "Mayweather vs Pacquiao" is real.
In short, none of this means anything.
Manila Standard has a bit more from Arum about Pacquiao's payoffs, and why he's listed as a $6 million purse on Nevada's official pay sheets, while his guarantees for last year's two fights were said to be $20M and $22M:
He said that under the rules of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the fighters need to be paid on the night of a fight.
To meet this requirement, Arum paid the NSAC $6 million for Pacquiao in his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, which the commission paid to the Filipino after the fight and which could be cashed the next day.
Arum indicated this was in order to comply with the requirements, even as he pointed out that "in the long form contract," a copy of which is given the Internal Revenue Service, Pacquiao’s guarantee for the Marquez fight was $22 million, which was paid in full within 10 days, even though the contract stipulated it could be paid within two months.
I don't much care about this angle, since I always was pretty sure Manny was getting the reported guarantees, and wasn't buying any of the "conspiracy theories" or whatever about the payoffs, but there you are. That's Arum's explanation.
Ruslan Provodnikov and Ji Hoon won as expected on tonight's edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights, and did so in their usual fashion, as well.
In the junior welterweight main event, Provodnikov improved to 21-1 (14 KO) with a sixth round knockout of a gritty but undersized and overmatched David Torres (21-3-2, 13 KO). Torres, the local favorite in Washington, was a replacement opponent for previously-scheduled Julio Diaz, and continued his streak of non-wins with his first fight in 11 months. The 33-year-old veteran is now 1-3-2 in his last six fights.
Tonight's Friday Night Fights on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com begins at 9 p.m. EST, and features a familiar pair of Banner Promotions names in a pair of fights that promise action. Bad Left Hook will have round-by-round coverage of the show.
In the junior welterweight main event, set for 10 rounds, Ruslan Provodnikov (20-1, 13 KO) will face David Torres (21-2-2, 13 KO). Provodnikov, 28, is a young Russian who looks and fights (somewhat) like Kostya Tszyu and has become a Friday Night Fights fan favorite over the last few years. He's coming into this fight having won a debated decision over DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley on December 5 in Russia, in a fight where he suffered a cut that was initially thought to be bad enough to keep him out of this fight.
Andre Dirrell has split from both promoter Gary Shaw and manager/adviser Al Haymon, reports Lem Satterfield, and will be fighting under his own promotional banner headed by his uncle and trainer, Leon Lawson Jr.
"This is big to be on your own and to be able to make your own decisions and to know that you've got the confidence of your own team, first and foremost," said Direll, 28, of Flint Mich. "It's a huge step in the game, and it will definitely let me know where my is name in the sport."
This is a pretty sudden move, as just today Dirrell's name emerged as Showtime's favorite to face Lucian Bute on April 14, and promoter Gary Shaw said that Dirrell was ready to step in if a fight between Bute and Carl Froch didn't go through.
It's also a highly questionable gamble from Dirrell, and the question is open as to what this really means.
Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson will meet again on April 28 in Atlantic City, live on HBO, but a proposed TV co-feature fight between WBC lightweight titleholder Antonio DeMarco and Michael Katsidis doesn't see likely. From Richard Schaefer, via Dan Rafael at ESPN.com:
"Katsidis wants to fight at 140," Schaefer said. He also said they offered to do a DeMarco rematch with Jorge Linares, but "DeMarco does not want to do that next, but rather take an interim fight first."
Katsidis (28-5, 23 KO) is coming off of an exciting but ultimately pretty one-sided loss to Ricky Burns in November, and that fight actually came after Katsidis made his plans to move to 140 full-time. For now, it appears the loss to Burns was his lightweight swansong.
A fight between former light heavyweight world champion Jean Pascal and blue chip prospect Ismayl Sillakh is being discussed, reports ESPN.com's Dan Rafael. Square Ring's John Wirt, who represents Sillakh, is trying to put the fight together with Pascal's promoter Yvon Michel. It would be a WBC eliminator, entitling the victor to meet the winner of the April 28 rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson.
From Wirt:
"We're very hopeful that this fight will take place between Sillakh and Pascal, and Yvon and I are talking about potentially doing it in May, but nothing is done yet. ... I think it's a great fight; I think a lot of people think it's a fantastic fight and will showcase both fighters' skills. Obviously, I think Sillakh has the skills to win. People have been avoiding him for a long time now and we're very appreciative that the WBC ordered this fight."
Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KO) has turned into a boxing socialite since his May 2011 loss to Hopkins on HBO, frequently popping up at big fights (pretty much all of them, in fact, plus some smaller events) but not stepping back into the ring at all. There haven't even been any particular serious negotiations to get him back in there.
Juan Manuel Marquez spoke with The RING today and made clear that he's ready to sign a fight with Lamont Peterson for a fight that would hopefully set up a fourth fight with Manny Pacquiao -- or Timothy Bradley, if that's the way it breaks down.
Marquez: Lamont Peterson is the proposed opponent. I don't know what's going to happen with the fight right now. My promoter tells me that maybe my next fight is going to be in Dallas Stadium.
I feel very happy because you know that I want to fight. I want to fight with Peterson. But I don't know what's going to happen. The promoter tells me maybe Dallas [Cowboys] Stadium.... Yesterday, I had a meeting with Fernando, and I want to fight with Peterson, but then, I want to fight with Manny Pacquiao again. I want to sign a contract that will give me a chance to fight Manny again, do you understand? ... But if Bradley beats Pacquiao, yes, it would fight him, because this is like a tournament. It's like a tournament. The winners fight the winners."
Marquez (53-6-1, 39 KO) is clearly ready to go forward with Bob Arum's tournament idea, but it's far from set. This would all play out only if Manny Pacquiao does not land a rematch with Miguel Cotto, and instead fights Timothy Bradley on June 9.
